Amazed...

God never ceases to amaze me! Whether it be by the reminder of His love and grace in a message or the beautiful sunrise in the morning, I continually am amazed at who He is and by the fact that He loves me! One thing I have recently come to realize is that the more I learn God and draw nearer to Him the more sinful I become. I started to wonder why I was becoming more of a sinner when it dawned on me that it wasn't that I was becoming a worse sinner so to speak but rather more sensitive to my sinful heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." I often thought that verse was in regards to guarding my heart from things of this world but what it is actually referring to is guarding our hearts from ourselves! Lets face it...we are sinners in desperate need of a Savior. Apart from His strength and grace everything we would do would be of no value and not glorifying or edifying. I have been reminded of how I need to pray Psalm 139:23 which says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." We need to seek purification from the Lord from our deepest sins that He might be honored. Will it be easy? Of course not, but it will be worth it as we continue on this race.

Studying about his attributes whether it be His sovereignty or His justice increases my view of Him and decreases my view of myself. I have never realized how prideful I am and how high I think of myself. What a blow to my ego God has given me as He has begun to really cut away the callousness of my numbness to sin and began to refine me in the fire. Although I know that sanctification and refining are a lifelong process I am excited to watch God work and more importantly to be used by our indescribable God! That He would use me for His purposes amazes me beyond comprehension. What a great God we serve.